Case Number 22995: Small Claims Court

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS: 2011 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

The Red Sox suck.

The Case

In 2011, professional baseball bore witness to one of the great postseason
runs, and arguably the greatest World Series ever played. The St. Louis
Cardinals were far from world-beaters during the dog days of summer, sitting
10.5 games out of a playoff spot in August. But they put together a run and
found themselves fighting for a shot at the Series title. Behind the power of
Albert Pujols' bat, Chris Carpenter's ace pitching, and the magic of the
legendary David Freese (huh?), the Cardinals tore through the best the NL had to
offer and defeated the Texas Rangers in a ridiculously entertaining seven-game
series for the championship. Major League Baseball brings you their story.

This is a terrific championship Blu-ray, and though all of these post-season
tributes from the four major sports tend to be high-end, the MLB crew seems to
put out presentations that consistently jockey for the top spot. The Cardinals
are beneficiaries of one of the best I've seen, a production that milks the
potent drama of the St. Louis games to great effect. Incorporating fantastic
in-game footage (necessarily slowed down of course for maximum impact!),
sweeping orchestral scores, and the super-serious narrative inflection of Jon
Hamm, the producers ensure you're not just watching well-paid professional
athletes swing a ball at a bat...but watching history.

And you know, they might have a point. Just take a look at Game 6 of the
World Series, when twice the Cards were down to their last strike and prolonged
the game, giving local boy David Freese the opportunity to crush the
game-winner. Movie scripts don't get that far-fetched! But that's how it played
out and MLB wants you to soak it up.

St. Louis Cardinals: 2011 World Series Champions runs for 90 minutes
and very little time is spent on the regular season. You get mentions of the
injury trouble the team had to face out of the gate and some of their lapses,
but it's soon onto the playoffs to face Philly and Milwaukee. These were
compelling match-ups in their own right, what with the latest Philly
"super-team" to crap their pants and the surprising Brewer team
apparently PED-enhanced. But the footage rockets fairly quickly through both of
these series, with the bulk of the screen time reserved for World Series.

As the textbook dictates, game footage is mixed with interviews of players
and managers (from both teams), adding context to the on-field drama. The
feature culminates in the post-game celebration from the clubhouse to the
victory parade route.

On the technical end, St. Louis Cardinals: 2011 World Series Champions
(Blu-ray) is magnificent, the 1.78:1/1080p HD transfer absolutely shining.
Sporting events are often the best exhibitions of high definition and it shows
here. A DTS-HD 5.1 Master audio mix actively supports the great visual fidelity.
Extras: brief segments on Lance Berkman and Tony La Russa, original broadcast
snippets of the postseason, World Series highlights and the celebration, footage
of the parade, and the complete NLDS Game 5...which is nice and all, but why not
give us the magical Game 6 of the Fall Classic?